Dear Trenten,

How do I feel about Wisconsin? Well, I’m glad you asked.  Wisconsin is quite an interesting place. Here are some things you may not have known about it.

1) A Wisconsinite was actually the first to develop the typewriter in 1868. He was the one who came up with the QWERTY layout that is still used today, over a hundred years later.

2) In the early 1800s it was illegal to serve ice cream sodas on Sundays in Twin Rivers, Wisconsin. So when a customer requested the soda sauce on top of his dish of ice cream one Sunday night, reluctant shop owner Ed Berners created the first ice cream sundae.

3) Bloomer Wisconsin, is the place where in 1960 jump rope was born. A coach and school teacher thought up this fun activity for kids to do in the winter, and it became a world sensation. They were featured on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and to this day have a World Rope Jump Competition.

4) America’s first kindergarten class was started in 1856 in Watertown, Wisconsin by German native Margarethe Schurz. After the building burned down in 1912 the private class of five moved to a new building which is now a part of the Octagon House Museum.

5) Wisconsin was originally spelled “Ouisconsin” and was spelled that was for 150 years. The meaning of the name is “river that meanders through something red,” which is said to be the red bluffs of the Wisconsin Dells.

Now for some Wisconsin humor! You know you’re from Wisconsin if…

• Your favorite shirt has a big G on it
• You get irritated with sports announcers who pronounce it Wes-consin
• You learned to drive a tractor before the training wheels came off your bike
• You were delighted to get a mini snow shovel on your 3rd birthday
• You think fast food is hitting a deer at 65 MPH
• You or someone you know was a Dairy Princess at a county fair
• You let your older siblings talk you into sticking your tongue on a steel pole
• You know that creek rhymes with pick
• You can tell the difference between  “real Wisconsin cheese” and “that Illinois stuff”
• Football schedules are checked before wedding dates are set
• You know what a  bubbler is
• You have driven your car on a lake
• You know that De Pere is not a wooden structure extending into “da lake”

All in all, Wisconsin sounds like a great state, although I have personally never been there.  I hope my dear Cara enjoys it and you all live happily ever after.  Best Wishes!

-Ask Angela